Shuixian (水仙) is Water Goddess is a type of rock tea (岩茶, yancha) from the Wuyi mountains. The repeatedly-baked dark Wulong’s usual fiery taste is now combined with a complex mixture of light sour-, and bitterness which then soon turns into a long-lasting sweet, nutty aftertaste. With its flowery redolence, Shuixian is considered one of the most fragrant teas in the Wuyi mountains, hence the name, which also means narcissus.
The Chinese expression gaocong means ‘high bush/high tree’, so they don’t cut back the plants to hedge-size. Due to the slow-growing of the tea plant (Camelia sinensis), it means old trees at the same time. Gaocong is usually used for plants above 40-50 years old.
Wuyi teas have two major idiosyncrasies: First, they are plucked only during Spring, and second, they are baked multiple times: at harvest time, then once again a half year later.
The Wuyi Mountains are situated in Fujian Province, China. With its more than a thousand-year-old history of tea cultivation, and approximate 200 different varieties of the tea plant (Camelia sinensis) the area is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The mountain’s volcanic nature reappears in the character of the tea: fiery, vitalizing ambiance and strong chaqi (茶氣, that is tea nature/energy).
